She even went up against no less a symbol of the space age and its masculine ethos than John Glenn, one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and the first American to orbit Earth. https://www.nationalaviation.org/our-enshrinees/cobb-geraldyn-jerrie-m [13] Astronaut John Glenn stated at the hearing "men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes", and "the fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order". Ms. Cobb’s death was announced in a statement by her family posted on the website Spaceref on Thursday. Jerrie Cobb in 1961. [6][20] In 1981, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. Geraldine Cobb Net Worth. ", "Jerrie Cobb, one of the most gifted female pilots in history, has died", "Geraldyn M. Cobb, Who Found a Glass Ceiling in Space, Dies at 88", "For All Mankind Recap: The Glass Ceiling", "In Old Globe's 'They Promised Her the Moon' women's dreams of traveling into space wind up lost in the stars", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", "jerrie-cobb-foundation.org - Diese Website steht zum Verkauf! And she was honored by the governments of Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. [2] In 1948, Cobb attended Oklahoma College for Women for a year. “I would give my life to fly in space,” Ms. Cobb, then 67, told The Associated Press. Facing sex discrimination and the return of many qualified male pilots after World War II, she had to take on less sought after jobs, such as patrolling pipelines and crop dusting.

She went on to earn her Multi-Engine, Instrument, Flight Instructor, and Ground Instructor ratings as well as her Airline Transport license. A memorial to those who lost their lives in 2019. Dr. Randy Lovelace, a NASA scientist who had conducted the official Mercury program physicals, administered the tests at his private clinic without official NASA sanction.

Copyright © 2020 NAHF. When she became the first woman to fly in the Paris Air Show, the world's largest air exposition, her fellow airmen named her Pilot of the Year and awarded her the Amelia Earhart Gold Medal of Achievement. However, three years of political wrangling and one contentious Congressional hearing later, NASA closed the door on sending Jerrie or any other of the “Mercury 13,” into space as this group of women had become known to the public. Ms. Cobb, who had been flying since the age of 12, was deeply disappointed. [14] Only a few months later, the Soviet Union would send the first woman into space,[4] Valentina Tereshkova. At age 16, Jerrie earned her private pilot’s license. In 1973, President Nixon awarded Jerrie the Harmon Trophy, naming her “the top woman pilot in the world.” In 1981 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work in South America. [citation needed], Cobb received numerous aviation honors, including the Harmon Trophy and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale's Gold Wings Award. Her only thoughts were to buy a plane so she could earn a living as a pilot. 1979 Bishop Wright Air Industry Award for her "humanitarian contributions to modern aviation". Jerrie Cobb was as qualified as any man to be an astronaut. Over the next several years Jerrie set several aviation records for speed, distance, and altitude in a twin engine Aero Commander, earning her a job with the type’s manufacturer as both a pilot and a manager. Stephanie Nolen. [25], Laurel Ollstein's play They Promised Her the Moon tells the story of Jerrie Cobb and her struggle to become an astronaut. “She identified sexism at NASA, and there wasn’t a legal redress for it until the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” Margaret Weitekamp, the author of “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program” (2005) and a curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum, said in a telephone interview.